1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to electrical connectors having a receptacle housing with a gripping resilient feature.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
In electrical connectors it is desirable that forces required to mate and unmate the receptacle and the header fall within certain upper and lower limits and that such forces remain relatively constant even after the receptacle and the header have been mated and unmated on numerous occasions. In electrical connectors in which the receptacle and header are engaged by means of a resilient interaction between metallic terminal and pin elements, there may be a tendency, because of loss of resiliency, for mating and unmating forces to decrease below desirable limits. It is also found that in such connectors, various degrees of wear occur as a result of the resilient interaction between the metallic terminals and pins. As a result of such wear, gold or other metallic platings may be removed or reduced to unacceptably or undesirably thin levels.
There is, therefore, a need for a retention feature in electrical connectors which maintains a consistent level of mating and unmating force within a desired range of forces and which does not have a tendency to remove gold or other metallic platings from terminals and pins.